In a unanimous vote at a special board meeting held December 6, the Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA) elected Rick Melnick of Valent BioSciences Corp. (VBC) as its new board chairman and director. Effective January 1, Melnick succeeds Eda Reinot of BASF Corp., who served as chair since 2009. Reinot was elected to remain on the board and serve as vice-chairman.

Melnick has been an active member of the board since 2008 and has served as the organization’s public relations and outreach committee chair since 2006.

Melnick joined VBC as a strategic marketing manager in 2011, with responsibilities in the areas of Agricultural Microbials, Plant Growth Regulators, Public Health and Forestry. Prior to joining VBC, Rick had a 16-year career with Meister Media Worldwide (the parent company of the CropLife Media Group) that included positions as a Group Editor of the company’s horticultural publications, Business Director for the Crop Protection Handbook, and ultimately Corporate Editorial Director.

“It’s a great honor to be elected chair of BPIA,” said Melnick, who joined the organization in 2003. “It has been gratifying to work alongside industry peers as we have grown BPIA and have helped increase awareness about the benefits of biopesticide technology. I’m confident we will continue to grow BPIA and to provide our respective markets with information they need to become more sustainable and extract the full value that biopesticides have to offer.”

Nina Wilson of Gowan Corp. was also elected to serve on the BPIA board. Wilson is co-chair of the organization’s Regulatory Committee and will continue to serve in that role.

Nina currently holds a position as Senior Regulatory Scientist with Gowan Co., where her primary focus is global registrations of biopesticides. In her tenure at Gowan, Nina has managed marketing and sales of the company’s turf and ornamental business as well as serving as product manager for key products in the Gowan portfolio.

Prior to Gowan, Nina worked for more than 15 years in FMC’s chemical business in sales and marketing and also served as Regional Director of FMC’s international defense systems business based in Brussels, Belgium.

The board also approved a new membership policy and its annual budget for 2014.

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